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Glued to each other... traditionally
Rajan and Sajan Mishra with Rajan's sons Rajneesh (left) and Ritesh Mishra at their residence in New Delhi. Photo: Anu Pushkarna.
THE RIGOUR and discipline of the years they have spent in practice of the art they know and love best, blooms forth effortlessly when they sit for a performance. The audience barely stirs as the two brothers weave magic with their mellifluous voices. Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra, both highly acclaimed exponents of Hindustani classical music, believe in upholding the purity of the Banaras vocal gharana.
The brothers, now in their 50s, stay together with their families in Delhi. "The joint family atmosphere is very healthy. Our father, the late Pandit Hanuman Prasad Mishra and uncle, the late Pandit Gopal Mishra, stayed together. We were very fortunate to have our grandmother staying with us. Her love and discipline helped us stay together," reminisces Rajan, the elder of the two.
Both would do riyaaz together for six hours every day, blending their voices and anticipating the other's move. "Music has never been competitive. It has always been complementary," he says. There have been occasions when one of them had a bad throat during a performance. Then the other would come to his aid by not going to the higher saptak, and meander in the lower notes.
Both brothers have had their share of childhood squabbles. "We would fight, and there would be rona-dhona. Then mother would reprimand us and we would start singing again. However, we were always serious before father. After he would go, we would indulge in our little shaitaniyaan," recalls Sajan with a smile.
Back from a recent performance in Paris, Rajan says the French were very appreciative of their singing. "After the performance at the Theatre de la Ville, several people came to us with tears in their eyes, and said they were very moved..."
The Mishra brothers are sticklers for keeping alive the purity of tradition. There have been requests to break the presentations for the foreign audiences. "But we sing unbroken for one and a half hours, and the people love it. When I love my music, then you will love it too. There are no two ways about it," says Rajan emphatically.
His two sons, Ritesh and Rajneesh, are following their father's footsteps in keeping to the tradition. They stick to pure classical renditions rather than go for "the new fangled fusion music". "To safeguard tradition, you have to sacrifice running after new things," says Sajan. "In fact, these days cassette companies run after artistes who are into fusion music," adds Ritesh.
"This age-old parampara for which we are renowned abroad, is under danger from this fusion music," says Rajan. "It is wrong to think that we should change for the audience. If we have the calibre then we should make the audience appreciate our presentation."
Ritesh and Rajneesh, both in their 20s, give joint performances like their father and uncle and also do riyaaz together.
But it is not just music that they are thinking about all the time. Sports is a topic of great interest. Both Rajan and Sajan were cricket captains in school and college. Likewise, Ritesh and Rajneesh are also into cricket and volleyball.
Old Hindi film numbers are appreciated. They had given music for the Jaya Prada-starrer, Sur Sangam in 1983 and have recently recorded a small alap for a Tamil film directed by K. Vishwanath. Another addiction the brothers share is for the betel leaf. A round steel `paan-dabba' is their constant companion, even during long foreign jaunts.
In between performances abroad and in the country, the brothers also supervise students at their two gurukuls in Benaras and Dehra Dun. Their simple, unaffected lifestyle and musical tradition is a passion the family shares with pride.
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